Letters | How China is hurting own national interests by barring US reporters from Hong Kong

Barring journalists representing prominent US news outlets from working in Hong Kong will alienate Hongkongers, and go against Beijing’s goal of national unity

The controversial Wall Street Journal headline may have helped to unite the Chinese people and attracted sympathy from other countries had China not retaliated

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Foreign journalists chat after attending a daily briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing on March 18. At least 13 American journalists, from the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post, stand to be expelled from China, including Hong Kong and Macau, in retaliation for a new limit imposed by the Trump administration on visas for Chinese state-owned media operating in the US. Photo: AP

Published: 6:25am, 23 Mar 2020Updated: 6:25am, 23 Mar 2020

I read with concern of the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s stance in “As China-US relations continue to sour, Beijing says expulsion of American reporters may just be the start” (March 18).

First, there was the dispute over the headline of a Wall Street Journal opinion column. Freedom of speech aside, such a headline may even be a constitutionally desirable one: “universally hurting” Chinese feelings could work as a unifying force, favourable to the purpose of Article 4 of the Chinese Constitution.

Further, much overseas opinion was sympathetic to Chinese feelings, and being in the position of the victim who does not retaliate could be a great advantage. The decision to exact retribution squandered both these gains.

Second, China has historically claimed the restriction of foreign press to be beyond criticism, because this comes under the banner of “internal affairs”. Applying this logic to American actions would mean they are equally unimpeachable, thus a claim of even provocation (let alone necessity) is invalid. “Western” logic doesn’t claim such immunity but bans are subject to limits.

Third, as far as Hong Kong is concerned, I shall skip the allocation of powers debate, for it has been well covered. However, when the central government claims control, it renders the Hong Kong government unable to fulfil its intended role as primary defender of our rights (Article 4 of the Basic Law).

Article 13 assumes our foreign affairs are distinguishable from China’s regular foreign affairs. Further it emphasises responsibility, not power. To render this responsibility meaningful, the central government is obliged to give weight to Hong Kong’s interests during the conduct of foreign affairs.

More generally, Article 39 of the Basic Law states that Hong Kong will protect human rights to international standards. As Beijing is in control, it must take responsibility for maintaining this.

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Letters | How China is hurting own national interests by barring US reporters from Hong Kong